Welcome!

First of all, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to visit my site and store. Although things look a little empty right now, there are many projects in the works that will be announced soon! This includes items such as holiday cards, bookmarks, and apparel/accessories.

Why Belles & Bucks?

Great question! My instinctual response to that question is always, why not? But here’s the real answer about why I decided to start this company: I love creating and doing things that spread happiness and joy – though preferably in a behind-the-scenes kind of way, because I am a huge introvert and not exactly a people person face-to-face.

When I was a kid, I discovered a card-making program on the computer. I used it to create super cheesy and extremely lame birthday cards for family members. I even came up with a goofy name (Luv-U-Lots Co., in case you were wondering) and printed it on every single card I made. Of course, these weren’t exactly high quality products, and eventually I outgrew the “graphic design” phase of my youth. But even as a kid I knew I wanted to someday start my own business, and a making cards was one idea I kept on the back burner for quite some time.

A couple years ago, I decided I wanted to start making money on my own terms.

Sure, I had a regular job with a decent paycheck. But the itch to “be my own boss” was too annoying not to scratch. This led to my first official website, Kristangible, and my road to entrepreneurship and business building.

I struggled a lot with that first website.

Let me rephrase that. I still struggle a lot with that site. The mechanics was the easy part; it was the content that was tough. Initially I tried to create a website in the DIY niche with How To articles and organization tips – basically the same old shit you see on Pinterest All. The. Time. That didn’t work out so well, so I switch gears to a general lifestyle blog.

After a year of pushing to monetize my site, I finally got some influencer work (i.e. free products and/or cash for posting product reviews) and eventually linked up with a copy writing company who pays me to post articles. I still do these things, and it has been eye-opening as well as monetarily rewarding.

Eventually I’d like to shut off a lot of the monetized portions of that site and reclaim it for my creative writing work – but that’s a story for a different day. After two years of working on Kristangible, I got the itch again.

This time, though, I felt ready to get serious about being an entrepreneur.

I finished my business certificate through Indiana University, which taught me a lot about the basics of starting and running a business. And through my experience with website building in the past, I knew how to brand and market my new venture the right way from the get go rather than attempting a full re-brand months into a project.

The timing felt right too: I had just ended a two-year relationship and finally had some time to work on myself and my goals. I had the money to invest in myself, and the equipment necessary. I also accumulated many skills over the year or so prior, through online communities and e-courses about online business.

Despite knowing I had the tools I needed, I was terrified. Hell, I’m still terrified this is all going to fizzle out after a few months. But a few months ago, I heard something on a podcast that made me decide to take this leap:

If you don’t build your own dreams, you’ll spend your life building someone else’s.

If you don’t understand what that means, let me explain it. Every business that has ever existed was someone’s dream. Someone decided that it was their dream to own that business. But these people can’t build their dreams on their own; they rely on others to help build it with them. (We often call these people “employees”.) By being an employee, you are helping to build the dream of the person you are working for.

I’m not saying there is anything wrong with working for someone else.

I mean, I still work for someone else full time, so I am helping that person build their dream. But I also have my own dreams. I want to live my life knowing that I did everything I could to build my own dreams, rather than wasting away my years building someone else’s.

It’s not just that I want to be my own boss (though that does have its perks). I want to feel like I have made a difference in the world. What better way to do that than by creating products that make people feel good?

So, there you have it.

If you’re still with me this far into this post, know that I appreciate you investing your time in me and my business. I hope I can create something you’ll love, and I am always taking suggestions and special order requests if you don’t find what you’re looking for. Contact me at any time.

Until then,
-K.